Sen. John Cornyn opposes Larry Summers for Fed chair

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Thursday he would oppose Larry Summers for chairman of the Federal Reserve, calling him “unsuitable” to take on the role.

As the Minority Whip, Cornyn is the Senate’s second-highest ranking Republican, and his opinion could influence other Republicans in the chamber — but Summers, who has not officially been nominated, likely would face criticism on both sides of the aisle.

The Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported yesterday that the official nomination would take place next week. Summers, who served as director of the National Economic Council during President Barack Obama’s first term and is a former Treasury Secretary, is leading the list among speculators on Capitol Hill.

White House spokesperson Amy Brundage denied the Nikkei report Friday morning, tweeting that Obama has not yet made a decision on the next Federal Reserve chairman.

A Cornyn spokesperson said Summer’s history of promoting federal stimulus funds and tax hikes is “not in line with Texas values.”

“Given his role in the first two years of the president’s first term of office, and the failed stimulus, and his whole approach to getting the economy growing … I would not support” his nomination, Cornyn told The Wall Street Journal.

A spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz, Cornyn’s Republican colleague from Texas, said Cruz has not taken a stance on the Federal Reserve nomination and will not until the nominee is officially named.